Not this time buddy, I was at Blyton and was knocking 2.20 s out all week end with my old banger. I never rev the engine and hold it, my technique, for what it is worth is simply to rev the engine and drop the clutch any time after the light has gone green. The only launch control that I have is my left and right feet. No blipping the throttle and no dropping the clutch on the down rev...

I have witnessed several 'incidents' with false starts. Cars not being held on the line by the start line crew being the most frequent, usually when cars tend to roll forward. This mostly happens during first practice. However the most blatant was one I witnessed in Scotland. A single seater was lined up and patiently awaited the green light. Just as the green light came on an official threw his jacket into the timekeepers hut and somehow triggered the clock. Seconds later the car started and when he crossed the line after a superb run the time he was given was some 6 seconds greater than his previous run!

I have witnessed several 'incidents' with false starts. Cars not being held on the line by the start line crew being the most frequent, usually when cars tend to roll forward. This mostly happens during first practice. However the most blatant was one I witnessed in Scotland. A single seater was lined up and patiently awaited the green light. Just as the green light came on an official threw his jacket into the timekeepers hut and somehow triggered the clock. Seconds later the car started and when he crossed the line after a superb run the time he was given was some 6 seconds greater than his previous run!

Steve
How did you know it was lined up correctly?. Did you have a clear view of the start line without parallax effects ? Was the 6 seconds reflected in the 64 ft time.

Hasta

__________________I now know a liitle more about using an extinguisher

Steve
How did you know it was lined up correctly?. Did you have a clear view of the start line without parallax effects ? Was the 6 seconds reflected in the 64 ft time.

I couldn't tell if (a) it was lined up correctly or not however, the start line crew were well into the event and there had been no other such previous incidents, and (b) I certainly didn't have a view of the start "without parallax effects". Given that the 64 ft time was over 8 seconds; that the commentator said there was a problem before the car reached the first corner and that the driver was immediately given a re-run all pointed to there being a problem with timekeeping. Finally when I asked the driver what happened this was the explanation given him by the CoC.

I couldn't tell if (a) it was lined up correctly or not however, the start line crew were well into the event and there had been no other such previous incidents, and (b) I certainly didn't have a view of the start "without parallax effects". Given that the 64 ft time was over 8 seconds; that the commentator said there was a problem before the car reached the first corner and that the driver was immediately given a re-run all pointed to there being a problem with timekeeping. Finally when I asked the driver what happened this was the explanation given him by the CoC.

Based on all that you cannot say ' there was a problem with timekeeping' . All you can say is the clock started early for some reason . Throwing a jacket was almost certainly not the cause . It would have been better to tell the truth . The car was either lined up incorrectly or crept forward and neither the timekeeper or the start line crew spotted it at the time . Maybe the timekeeper was distracted by the official with the jacket !
In your first reply you mention the start line crew holding the car. This is something that should not happen as it is a recipe for disaster. If a car creeps on a level start line then it is not the responsibility of the marshals to hold the car . MIRA is an exception as the start is downhill and cars roll. But the Startline crew there release their hold when they consider the car is about to move . This is normally when the revs start to rise which probably explains Grahams anomolous time .
As you can tell it irritates me greatly when people who should know better use the catch all ' timing issue' as an answer to anything that goes wrong at an event.

Hasta

__________________I now know a liitle more about using an extinguisher

As you can tell it irritates me greatly when people who should know better use the catch all ' timing issue' as an answer to anything that goes wrong at an event.

Hasta

That wasn't my intention Hasta. But, the whole point of circulating the track is to record a 'time' therefore accuracy is critical. And its the one element we all pay for out of our entry fees, that we expect to work, reliably.

99.99% of the time, it does, but I've had two occasions this year where it inexplicably didn't go according to plan, and if its down to me, then I can address that perhaps. However, I cant press the brake pedal, the clutch and the throttle all at the same time, so I cant prevent the car from moving.

I'll post the clip from Blyton when I did my 6.38s 64ft time, and maybe someone can tell me what I was doing wrong.

That wasn't my intention Hasta. But, the whole point of circulating the track is to record a 'time' therefore accuracy is critical. And its the one element we all pay for out of our entry fees, that we expect to work, reliably.

99.99% of the time, it does, but I've had two occasions this year where it inexplicably didn't go according to plan, and if its down to me, then I can address that perhaps. However, I cant press the brake pedal, the clutch and the throttle all at the same time, so I cant prevent the car from moving.

I'll post the clip from Blyton when I did my 6.38s 64ft time, and maybe someone can tell me what I was doing wrong.

It wasn't aimed at you . Graham

Hasta

__________________I now know a liitle more about using an extinguisher

That wasn't my intention Hasta. But, the whole point of circulating the track is to record a 'time' therefore accuracy is critical. And its the one element we all pay for out of our entry fees, that we expect to work, reliably.

99.99% of the time, it does, but I've had two occasions this year where it inexplicably didn't go according to plan, and if its down to me, then I can address that perhaps. However, I cant press the brake pedal, the clutch and the throttle all at the same time, so I cant prevent the car from moving.

I'll post the clip from Blyton when I did my 6.38s 64ft time, and maybe someone can tell me what I was doing wrong.

Graham, I never put the clutch pedal down or the car in gear until the light turns green. You DO NOT have to leave the second the lights change

And whilst queuing behind Pete (#112), I noticed several issues with the lights, on one occasion it briefly flashed green, then red, and Pete revved the engine, then had to come off the gas and wait for it to go green again.

This can happen for a few reasons

1. Human error -at Mira you clear the next car when a competitor reaches the old control tower - this means you can't see the start line so sometimes if you don't take your finger off the button quickly enough the timekeepers think you've given clearance for the next car to start. Sounds easily avoided but when you have radio traffic in your ear, youd be surprised how easy it is to do.

2. There's an incident on track after the green has been given. There were a few occasions where people span or knocked a cone after the clearance button had been pressed, if the track is no longer clear the button is released and the light will go back to red.

I was talking to a start line marshal a while ago & they said that it was surprising how many of the bike engine'd cars kicked forward when they put the car into gear. This triggered the timing before they raised the revs & launched. ???.